NEW FROM FMEP
The Urgent Threat to Dr. Abu Safiya’s Life: “They Brought Me Here to Kill Me” (Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Naji Abbas, Director of the Prisoners and Detainees Department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel, about the Israeli army’s policies and practices of kidnapping and disappearing Palestinians into detention, where torture is rampant. Among the 5000 Palestinians detained without charge are 14 senior Palestinian doctors from Gaza, including Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, whose condition has deteriorated. Following his most recent visit to Dr. Abu Safiya, attorney Nasser Odeh reported “tangible and immediate danger” to Dr. Abu Safiya’s life due to a “dramatic escalation in the assaults and torture” inflicted by Israeli prison guards against Dr. Abu Safiya. Ahmed and Naji place the detention of Gaza’s doctors within the logic of genocide, as it is part of the dismantling of the healthcare services people need to live.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Umm al Khair (Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Eid Suleiman, a resident of the village of Umm al Khair in Masafer Yatta in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Andrey X, a journalist and solidarity activist who is an Israeli citizen. They discuss settlers attacks and expansionism, who the so-called Hilltop Youth are, and the fact that the settler apparatus for dispossessing Palestinian people and confiscating their land operates as Israeli state policy. They also discuss Palestinian efforts to sustain their families and communities, the solidarity activists who offer support, and the concrete differences in how Palestinians and non-Palestinian solidarity activists are treated by the Israeli army and Israeli police.
TrackAIPAC (Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Cory Archibald and Casey Kennedy, the co-founders of TrackAIPAC, a campaign to that, in its own words, seeks to “reveal and counter the influence of AIPAC and the Israel lobby by systematically documenting their financial contributions to our federal officials.” They discuss how the campaign came about and has developed and the criticisms they’ve received for its work. They also discuss the role of dark money in politics more generally and how they are trying to address it.
FMEP Legislative Round-Up July 10, 2026 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters & Reports; 3. Hearings & Markups; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
Settlement & Annexation Report: July 9, 2026 (Kristin McCarthy)
West Bank; East Jerusalem; State-backed Settler Terrorism; New Report on Annexation; Bonus reads
GLOBAL/REGION
Trump says US will continue holding talks with Iran, but ceasefire is over (TOI 7/10/26)
“Top Iranian official threatens to target Israel as part of retaliation for US attacks; some Israeli officials said in favor of resuming strikes on Iran, awaiting Trump’s go-ahead…The Truth Social post came amid reports that Qatari, Pakistani and other mediators had scrambled to quell the US-Iran flare-up, and to prevent the MOU from collapsing altogether.” See also US launches strikes on Iran for a second day after Trump says agreement to end the war is ‘over’ (The Guardian 7/8/26); Two Days of U.S. Strikes in Iran Signal a Sharp Escalation (NYT 7/10/26); As US-Iran fighting resumes, Israel weighs 3 options with restraint winning, for now (Al Monitor 7/10/26); PM, IDF chief stress Israel’s readiness to return to war with Iran amid fresh fighting (TOI 7/9/26); Netanyahu pushes back on Trump’s plan to sell F-35s, jet engines to Turkey (JI 7/6/26); Israel’s diaspora minister calls Erdogan a ‘grotesque hybrid of Hitler and Sinwar’ (JTA 7/7/26); Israeli confidence in Trump drops to new low amid Iran negotiations (JI 7/6/26);
Israeli command system identified 850,000 targets in Gaza and Lebanon wars, says supplier (The Guardian 7/6/26)
“Israel identified about 1,000 potential targets a day during the first two years of the wars in Gaza and Lebanon with its command and control system, according to a presentation by the country’s largest arms supplier, Elbit Systems. A total of 850,000 targets were detected in real time by the Israeli Tzayad digital army programme across all the military’s theatres of war between 7 October and the end of 2025, the company said at a military conference in London. It describes the number of people, vehicles and other objects detected in real time for possible follow-up attack from land, sea or air, and illustrates the high intensity of the deadly wars fought by Israel over the last three years…There were 2.2 million people and 300,000 buildings in Gaza before October 2023, the main theatre of war in the two years following, Bryant said, suggesting that the IDF had at one point or another targeted “up to or over half the entire population and infrastructure” of the territory.”
Andy Burnham apologises for Labour’s stance on Gaza and says it ‘didn’t get it right’ (The Guardian 7/9/26)
“Andy Burnham has apologised for Labour’s initial response to Israel’s military action in Gaza, saying the party “didn’t get it right” and needs to “do better” under his leadership signalling a significant shift in the UK’s approach to the Middle East. The prime minister-in-waiting told the Guardian he would put more pressure on the Israeli government, including through further sanctions on individuals and entities, as well as a potential ban on the trade of goods with illegal settlements. Burnham’s intervention starts to address concerns among voters on Labour’s progressive flank, many of whom have abandoned the party over its position on Israel and Palestine.” See also Ireland passes bill banning Israeli goods made in East Jerusalem and West Bank (TOI 7/8/26); UK charity funding school at heart of illegal Israeli settlement expansion (The Guardian 7/6/26); Ireland bans hard-line Israeli ministers Ben-Gvir, Smotrich: What to know (Al Monitor 7/6/26);
GAZA
Hamas offers to hand over authority in Gaza to US-backed administration (The Guardian 7/6/26)
“Hamas has announced its intention to hand over governing authority in Gaza after two decades in power, and has invited a US-backed interim administration to take over the running of the Palestinian territory. It was not immediately clear how far Monday’s announcement would go towards strengthening an only partially observed ceasefire in Gaza or improving conditions in the besieged coastal strip which is still in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. While announcing that it was ready to hand over security as part of a transition, the Hamas statement made no promise to disarm unilaterally as Israel and the US have demanded. The interim administration to which Hamas has offered to transfer governance, known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), has been blocked from entering Gaza by Israel since its creation in January as part of a US-brokered ceasefire, adding further doubt to the timing of any future handover. Analysts said the Hamas announcement was largely a symbolic gambit aimed at reviving a stalled peace process that has blocked reconstruction and humanitarian relief for Gaza’s surviving 2.1 million population. They also said the move was designed to counter Israeli-led proposals to limit relief, reconstruction and NCAG governance to a tiny proportion of Gaza’s population in purpose-built villages in the roughly 60% of Gaza under direct Israeli army control. The Trump administration has given backing to the plan for which officials have variously referred to as a “humanitarian city”, “alternative safe communities”, or “New Rafah” – but which the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has called a “concentration camp”.’ See also Board of Peace plans launch of pilot Gaza housing project, but green light elusive (TOI 7/10/26); Israel Wants to Build the Most Moral Concentration Camp in the World (Haaretz Editorial 7/10/26)
Detained Gaza doctor almost unrecognisable after injuries in Israeli jail, lawyer says (The Guardian 7/6/26)
“One of Gaza’s most prominent doctors is almost unrecognisable because of severe injuries inflicted in Israeli detention, his lawyer has said, and faces “tangible danger to his life” after being held for 18 months without charge or trial. Hussam Abu Safiya met his lawyer on 2 July, after a transfer to Israel’s notorious underground Rakefet prison in late June. He had difficulty breathing and speaking continuously, was so weak he struggled to sit upright, and repeatedly seemed on the verge of losing consciousness, said his lawyer, Nasser Odeh. Abu Safiya, who was the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza until he was seized by Israeli forces, said he feared for his life. “They brought me here to kill me. I don’t see myself surviving. This is the end,” Odeh quoted him as saying, in a joint statement with Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), who along with other organisations are calling for his release.” See also Gaza Hospital Director Jailed in Israel in Life-threatening Danger, Lawyer Says (Haaretz 7/4/26); AOC Calls to Release Gaza Hospital Director Hussam Abu Safiya (Haaretz 7/10/26)
IDF accused of ‘field execution’ of Palestinian driver bringing aid into Gaza (The Guardian 7/9/26)
“A Palestinian driver bringing food aid from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) into Gaza has been killed by an Israeli soldier “in a field execution”, according to witnesses and the local truckers’ association, which said it may suspend operations in protest. Ahmad Esleem was shot in the head on Wednesday when an aid convoy stopped because of a breakdown to one truck soon after entering Gaza, according to three accounts. Israeli soldiers ordered the drivers to dismount and one of them shot Esleem in the head when his hands were raised.” See also ‘On-site Execution’ IDF Kills Palestinian World Central Kitchen Truck Driver in Gaza, Reports Say (Haaretz 7/10/26);
Aid worker who organised World Cup screenings in Gaza killed in Israeli strike (The Guardian 7/8/26)
“A Palestinian aid worker who had organised screenings of World Cup matches in Gaza was killed by an Israeli missile strike just before the game between Egypt and Argentina on Tuesday evening. Two brothers aged eight and 10 and another man who was in the street near the site of the attack were also killed…The Israeli military confirmed the strike, saying al-Wahidi had not been its intended target, and that the missile had been aimed at a “terrorist in Hamas’ military wing”.’ See also ‘They celebrate goals, we count martyrs’: Watching the World Cup in Gaza (Ibtisam Mahdi//+972 Magazine 7/8/26);
Photo of bound Palestinian detainee corroborates Israeli torture reports, say rights groups (The Guardian 7/8/26)
“An Israeli soldier’s photo of a Palestinian man from Gaza stripped to his underwear, blindfolded and bound face-down to an iron rod corroborates extensive reporting on Israeli torture of Palestinians in detention and itself may constitute a war crime, rights groups have said. The image was shared on a now-deleted personal social media account, with the Hebrew-language caption “good morning”…“Both abusive treatment of detainees and the public sharing of humiliating or degrading images of them can constitute war crimes,” said Oneg Ben Dror from the prisoner and detainees department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI). The photo “confirms what thousands of testimonies from Palestinian detainees have exposed, and what we and other organisations have been reporting for nearly three years now,” she added. “Israeli detention facilities are torture camps for Palestinians.”’
Chickenpox, scabies and infection: Gaza’s children battle against their skin in camp (New Arab 7/10/26)
“As temperatures soar, the tent traps the heat like an oven, while the smell of uncollected rubbish and stagnant sewage hangs in the air, turning an already painful illness into a daily ordeal…The United Nations has warned of a rapidly escalating outbreak of chickenpox after recording nearly 9,300 suspected cases in displacement sites and shelters over just two weeks. Humanitarian agencies said the surge reflects the devastating collapse of public health conditions after nearly two years of war, repeated displacement and the near destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system. According to UN assessments, around 83 per cent of displacement sites are infested with rodents, insects or parasites, further increasing the risk of disease outbreaks among already vulnerable communities.”
RIVER TO THE SEA
Israeli Settler Outposts Now Control Nearly Fifth of West Bank, Peace NGO Says (Haaretz 7/7/26)
“The Israeli government has accelerated the de facto annexation of the West Bank through “a systematic transformation of the control regime,” including settlement expansion, the displacement of Palestinian communities, the retroactive legalization of outposts and increased control over areas previously under Palestinian Authority responsibility, according to a report published by the Peace Now and Kerem Navot nonprofits. The government has provided extensive and sustained funding, particularly for unauthorized outposts, while retroactively legalizing them and facilitating the takeover of land, the report states, adding that the changes in the West Bank during the current government’s tenure are ‘unprecedented.’ Between 2023 and 2025, 185 new outposts were established in the West Bank, most of them agricultural settlements and so-called hilltop youth outposts. Together, they control more than one million dunams (approximately 250,000 acres), or about 18 percent of the West Bank’s total area.” See also Annus Mirabilis – Actions by the Israeli Government to Annex the West Bank: Comprehensive Report by Peace Now and Kerem Navot; Israeli Settlers Raid Palestinian Villages in Wave of West Bank Attacks (Haaretz 7/4/26); Netanyahu: Settler Violence in the West Bank Caused by ‘150 or So Juvenile Delinquents’ (Haaretz 7/7/26); Palestinians brace as Israeli settler figures in coalition seek to cement West Bank gains before election (The Guardian 7/8/26);
The Healthcare System Is Collapsing in the West Bank (Charlotte Ritz-Jack//Jewish Currents 7/2/26)
“Since October 7th, Israel has been withholding a significant portion of the Palestinian Authority’s tax dollars—some $5 billion, according to the PA. The dramatic shortfall has meant that it has been unable to pay medical staff their full salaries, import medicine, or reimburse insurance claims for procedures and prescriptions. With the West Bank’s already-shaky public health infrastructure now in a state of collapse, patients have been forced to turn to private hospitals and providers—which cost too much for the average person—or else seek help from NGOs. For many, simply managing a chronic condition can now mean scrambling to ration the little medication they can find, buying it on the black market, or simply not taking it at all. This crunch has grown particularly severe in recent months, since March, when doctors at public hospitals, who haven’t been paid their full salaries since October 2023, went on strike, refusing to provide non-critical services.”
The War on Palestinian Schools (Charlotte Ritz-Jack//Jewish Currents 7/7/26)
“While Israel has long targeted Palestinian education, the confluence of attacks on the system over the past three years has weakened it to an unprecedented degree. Since October 7th, the vast majority of public schools in the West Bank have operated just three days a week, often for just four or five hours a day. Because the Palestinian Authority (PA) cannot pay the full salaries of teachers—or any public sector employees, including doctors, who went on strike in May—hundreds of thousands of children have had their education cut in half, leading many, like the former students selling goods in the street, to drop out altogether. Al-Khatib suspects that at her school as many as 10% of students have dropped out because of the closures. In small towns like Aqraba, a community south of Nablus, a local education official estimated that more than 20% of students have dropped out this year. The closures have had ripple effects throughout the entirety of Palestinian society and its economy. Parents of young children cannot go to work without the childcare school provides, teachers stretch themselves thin across multiple jobs to supplement their meager salaries, and teens like Adabiq have too much time on their hands, opening up increased opportunities for getting into trouble. By targeting education, Israel has struck the heart of Palestinian life, undermining the economic and social stability required for maintaining and advancing Palestinian society.”
Israeli officer shown throwing stun grenade into car during West Bank raid (The Guardian 7/7/26)
“The footage from Sunday, released by the Israeli rights group B’Tselem, shows an officer approaching a car and shouting at its occupants. After a brief exchange, he reaches for his belt, grabs a stun grenade and throws it through the open door, which he pushes shut as the driver tries to get out. The officer is heard shouting: “Shut your mouth. Who are you talking to like that?” Moments later, the grenade detonates, filling the area with smoke. The two passengers scramble out through the opposite side of the vehicle and the officer appears to fire his rifle as they duck for cover. B’Tselem said all those who were in the car survived.” See also Israeli Border Police Officer Filmed Throwing Stun Grenade Into Car in East Jerusalem, Trapping Palestinians Inside (Haaretz 7/6/26);
Palestinians in East Jerusalem Left Without Sewage After Israel Forces UNRWA Shutdown (Haaretz 7/10/26)
“Tens of thousands of Palestinians living in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem have been without sewage services since March, when the UN Relief and Works Agency was forced to halt operations in Israel.”
The Crimson Thread: The Israeli Military Barrier Cutting Off Palestine’s Breadbasket (Maysa Mustafa//Drop Site 7/8/26)
“The first 22 kilometers of a planned 500-kilometer Israeli military barrier are cutting off Palestinians from a large swathe of some of the most fertile agricultural land in the occupied West Bank…
The Ecology of Dispossession (Diana Kruzman//Jewish Currents 7/9/26)
“Israel’s use of land reserves is one element of what is often termed “green” or “eco” Zionism, which posits that caring for the environment is central to maintaining the territory as Jewish…Green Zionism thus allows the State of Israel to cloak its occupation of territory and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the liberal language of environmentalism, pointing to tree-planting initiatives and nature reserves as proof of Israel’s necessary role stewarding the land. Experts and Palestinian rights groups have long claimed that these environmental “protections” are a cover used to justify the eviction of Palestinians from their homes, while illegal Israeli settlements are allowed to proliferate. Wadi Qana, for example, is surrounded by seven such settlements. As Alon Cohen-Lifshitz, of the Israeli planning rights organization Bimkom, put it to me, Israeli authorities’ main goal in creating nature reserves is “to delimit the development of Palestinians and to prevent access for shepherds and their herds . . . They’re using [environmental] planning as a tool to support taking over more land.”’
U.S. SCENE
AP-NORC poll: About 3 in 10 US adults believe Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians (AP 7/7/26)
“About one-third of U.S. adults — including roughly half of Democrats — believe that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians during the war in Gaza, an accusation that’s been leveled by some human rights organizations and vehemently denied by Israel and the U.S. government. About 2 in 10 Americans say Israel has not and the rest, about half, don’t know enough to say. A similar share, 30%, of Jewish adults say Israel has committed genocide, although about half, 49%, say it has not.” See also Inside the Growing Religious Revolt Against Christian Zionism (Connor Echols//Responsible Statecraft 7/8/26)
GOP-led House panel launches probe of umbrella group that backs Israeli progressive causes (TOI 7/10/26)
“A pair of Republican-controlled congressional committees have launched an investigation into the New Israel Fund, claiming the umbrella body that helps bankroll progressive Israeli organizations may have engaged in illegal electioneering against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith penned a letter to the acting chairman of NIF on Thursday informing the group of the investigation into whether it had violated its tax-exempt status as a US-based charity “by providing millions of dollars in funding to groups that engaged in political campaign activities in the 2019 Israeli elections.”…Given that the legal case against NIF appears thin, the practical implications of the Republican-led investigation may be limited to the seizing of its documents, but may well have a chilling effect.”
Scoop: Harris reaches out to Mamdani, pro-Palestinian activists in run-up to 2028 (Axios 7/1/26)
“Kamala Harris privately called New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani last week and has been holding lengthy, closed-door meetings with other prominent progressives — including pro-Palestinian activists. Why it matters: It’s the latest sign the former vice president is laying the groundwork for a potential White House run in 2028 — and looking to strengthen or repair her relationships with left-wing Democrats. Driving the news: Harris called Mamdani last Thursday to talk about the party’s future and plan a longer conversation, a person familiar with the call told Axios…Harris and her team also have been reaching out to pro-Palestinian activists during the past year, including at least one who helped lead the “Uncommitted Movement,” which grew out of opposition to former President Biden’s policy on the war in Gaza.” See also Ben-Gvir isn’t going to NYC after Jewish groups planned protests (NYJW 7/7/26)
Rahm Emanuel’s Speech in Tel Aviv Breaks With a “No Daylight” Approach (Matt Duss//The Nation 7/9/26)
“The most important thing about Rahm Emanuel’s speech in Tel Aviv Wednesday is that it was a repudiation of decades of US policy toward Israel, and specifically of Joe Biden’s “No daylight” approach…Unfortunately, even as the speech broke from a failed approach toward Israel, it was still based on the deeply patronizing attitude toward the Palestinians and the same tendentious rendering of history that has undergirded it. It’s hard to see how a new and better policy can be built on that same old logic.” See also In Israel, Rahm Emanuel Calls for End of Unconditional U.S. Support (NYT 7/7/26);
Judge schedules 2027 trial in decadeslong case linking AMP to Hamas murder of American teen (JI 7/8/26)
“A federal judge in Illinois has scheduled a Feb. 8, 2027, trial to determine whether the American Muslims for Palestine group can be held legally responsible for the 1996 murder of American teenager David Boim, according to a court document obtained by Jewish Insider. The landmark case could establish whether U.S. organizations are liable for funding Hamas terror operations.” See also Feds charge NY woman who allegedly said she wished ‘every day were October 7th’ with supporting terrorism (JTA 7/1/26)
PEN America President Resigns After Article About Israel and Cultural Boycotts (NYT 7/10/26)
“Dinaw Mengestu said he resigned as president of the free expression group PEN America on Thursday, in part because of an article about Israeli and Jewish writers in which the group outlines its opposition to cultural boycotts. He called that approach “unethical” because it could portray the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which seeks to economically isolate Israel because of its treatment of Palestinians, as discriminatory conduct instead of protected political speech. In an email, PEN America said it rejected any effort to read the article that way.”
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
‘I would never release him’: Muhammad Shehada on Marwan Barghouti and Palestine’s future (LRB 7/9/26)
“There is another possibility. Palestinians could anoint Barghouti 2.0, a deputy who could represent him, as Desmond Tutu did Mandela. If Barghouti wins the presidency from prison, his deputy could lead the national movement. And the movement would have a figurehead in the event of Barghouti’s death. Or there’s a further option: Palestinians could draft a Freedom Charter like that of South Africa, in order to have a strategy shaped by the public. The Freedom Charter didn’t just articulate Black South Africans’ vision for their future but sent a clear message to their oppressors about what society would look like after the collapse of the apartheid regime. This is a crucial means of creating allies on the other side and makes it more difficult for your rivals to delegitimise your struggle. As Sun Tzu wrote, ‘strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.’ A successful strategy should be designed to unite the many against the few.”
My nine-year-old son Mohammad, killed by Israeli soldiers, is not just another number (Aliyah Abdel Majid al-Halaq//The Guardian 7/6/26)
“My name is Aliyah Abdel Majid al-Halaq. I am 33 years old, from the village of ar-Rihiya, south of Hebron, and the mother of five children. My eldest daughter, Mais, is 14. My youngest son, Elias, is five. Between them was my beloved nine-year-old son, Mohammad. I always knew that life under occupation was built on violence, humiliation and fear. No Palestinian mother needs to be taught that. Still, I tried to protect my children from the full weight of that truth. I told myself that the poverty we lived in was the greatest hardship we had to endure; that patience would carry us through; that despite everything, our children could still grow up happy. On 16 October 2025, the day the Israeli army killed Mohammad, even that fragile belief was taken from me. I understood then that occupation does not only take land, freedom or dignity. It takes away something even more fundamental: a parent’s certainty that her child will come home. It turns every Palestinian mother into someone who lives in constant anticipation of loss.”
‘Studying Is a Form of Resistance’: The Library Where Palestinian Children Can Feel Safe (Haaretz 7/1/26)
“As settler pressure closes in on the Palestinian village of Umm al-Khair, children are losing the freedom to play, study and move safely. The library has become one of the few places they still feel secure.” See also The Israeli Activists Aiding Palestinian Victims of Settler Violence (TNR 7/2/26); Punish the State, Not Just the Settler: Israeli and Palestinian Activists Search for Solutions to Settler Terror (Haaretz 7/8/26)
Opposition Parties Offer No Alternative Political Visions in Israel’s Elections (Mtanes Shihadeh//Arab Center DC 7/9/26)
“This position paper discusses the opposition parties as they build alliances and compete for leadership, as well as their political programs, and argues that they are running in the upcoming elections on the same topics around which they have run since 2015. They focus on attacking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally by bringing up the criminal cases filed against him, on the government’s plan to restrict the judiciary, and on the responsibility for the major failure of October 7, 2023. The paper also posits that the opposition parties do not present any alternative political projects or visions regarding the core political issues to those proposed by the right-wing parties, especially on the issues of occupation and security, which until the 2013 elections were central to Israeli elections. On the other hand, the paper highlights that the most prominent distinction between the governing coalition and the opposition has become centered on internal issues, especially those related to the relationship between religion and the state, the status of the ultra-Orthodox parties, exempting students of religious seminaries from military service, checks and balances, and the status of the judiciary. The contest in the upcoming elections will be between the projects of the new religious, extreme right-wing parties and the traditional center-right opposition.” See also Ayman Odeh says Arab parties could back Bennett or Eisenkot to block Netanyahu (Al Monitor 7/4/26); First Israel silenced Palestinian citizens. Now it turns to their leaders (Baker Zoubi//+972 Magazine 7/6/26)
Standing on the Rubble (Isabella Hammad//The Equator 7/8/26)
“On Gaza, ruins and mourning”
A hot shower, running water, light: In exile, each one returns me to Gaza (Ahmed Dremly//MEE 7/4/26)
“Nearly three weeks ago, I evacuated Gaza for the first time in my 29 years. I was able to travel on a master’s scholarship to Italy, with the vital support of the municipality of San Giovanni a Piro, a town in the south that feels like a heavenly canopy of lush green spaces, mountain scenery and stunning views over the Mediterranean. I can hardly convince myself that everything around me is real and not fiction – the charming views, the warm people and the sheer fact that I am still alive. The heavy memories of what I experienced in Gaza during the ongoing war make acceptance nearly impossible…I stare at sidewalks lined with trees and colourful ornamental plants, and at intact houses adorned with beautiful decorations and paintings. Instantly, I recall the thousands of destroyed homes and makeshift tents I used to see every day and the lucky few houses left standing in Gaza, mostly scarred with partial destruction, bullet holes and blackened by the smoke of cooking fires.”
What Pope Leo won’t say about Gaza is testing the Catholic Church (Paola Caridi//+972 Magazine 7/10/26)
“Leo XIV has embraced his predecessor’s ethic of empathy. But across the Church, many are demanding he speak out more clearly against Israel’s crimes.”
As Iran and the U.S. talk, Israel chooses eternal war (Ori Goldberg//+972 Magazine 7/3/26)
“Sidelined from discussions over the region’s future, Netanyahu is telling Israelis they’ll have to go it alone — and they all nod in agreement.”